Dave Coleman, Feng Huang and Simon Frost take on the tough topic of how to migrate from the 10 year old workhorse for Citrix Access to the less than 2 year old pretty pony called StoreFront. StoreFront 2.5 is getting close to feature parity with Web Interface along with some bug fixes. Store customization SDK came out at this time. Newest HTML 5 client is baked in with 2.5. Mandatory application feature is a easy way to change the workflow of StoreFront to be more like Web Interface. When using HA the subscription data store and the credential wallet data are replicated between all the servers in the server group, which are the big two pieces of data that make it work. iOS receiver update that can support the same DNS name internally and externally. SoreFront Use a service called HDX Optimal Routing so that it can route through HDX Insight.

Receiver will search a shadow directory if there is no start menu to search for local Apps before starting to talk to StoreFront, when using a double hop and especially if you have a blank start menu. Multi Site Aggregation can be done now between the two sites when the same name is published with the same name and you can even have a preferred order and a make a failover site now. Can do parallel enumeration now which means it asks all the sites at once instead of one at a time to speed up logins/enumeration.

Poking around in each directory for StoreFront IIS directory with a web.config in each directory that controls that portion and the default.ICA file is under the Store directory if you are hunting for it. The SDK and the amount of customizations possible are easier and there are more options than WI.

StoreFront Roadmap.

Receiver for Android and IOS support with SHA2, adding smart card, new receiver for ChromeBooks, can do risk based authentication based on a new location to prompt for further information, adding more things to the console to take things out of config file and make them a checkbox again and normalize the receiver for windows experience.

Questions, confirmed password manager is dying and no password resets, receiver enterprise does have some bugs to create the desktop shortcuts, upgrades to StpreFront are less painful now and it should work if you put the customizations on the config folder, do customizations replicate to the other servers it the group=yes.

#SYN503, PowerShell Wizardry #CarlWebster #CirixSynergy This was a good session about his current scripts and some of the new ones that are coming out. NetScaler documentation script will be released later today. NetSH can be used to migrate DHCP from 2000-2012R2 instead of using PowerShell. PvD doesn’t have any warning system when the application or profile portion gets full.

#SYN502, XenDesktop 7.1 Sizing for dummies. This was a good session that breaks down the major milestones of how to size a XenDesktop and XenApp for someone that has never done it before. It was very practical and makes sense.

XenApp sizing
How many users to fit on each VM
How many VMs per physical server
How many physical servers will it take.

Measure Capacity, Utilization and Latency. Use peak and not averages.

UberAgent is a add on used with Splunk to monitor boot times, login times and application usage, that is way easier to use than just PerfMon.

Overcommit CPU for XenApp is a no, no but for XenDesktop you just have to tread lightly and not get to far. CPU ready needs to be lest than 5%. CPU wait example 2,000 ms with 2 vCPUs 2,000/20,000/2=5%.

Neil Lock from BT Global talks about how they are different and how many locations they have using CloudPlatform. This is further pushing CloudPlatform and deploying VMs the new way.

ShareFile Update
45k business customers
Zero to 1 million licenses in 18 months
there’re two customers with 75k employees, which is pretty wild
New 3.0 API has been rolled put.

ChromeBooks are coming back since 2011 when they gave away some some during Synergy.
10k plus chrome books deployed in One Australian Business.
Dillard’s is doing ChromeBooks also to provide access to their employees.

MAC Client Updates
Desktop Composition redirection offload the video work to the end points GPUshowed Aero Redirection on Windows 7.
DirectX to OpenGL conversion is used to make that happen.
No dates yet.

Receiver Release X1:
One touch access to your apps. ( marketing description)
UX User Experience is a new acronym shown today in relationship to HDX and MDX
This client will have branding abilities
This client refresh is all using a HTML 5 backend.
Updated Ui for all devices where the branding follows Windows or MAC.
No dates yet.

MS DOS=Don’t Own Stuff.
Don’t own equipment on the front end or backend by using cloud technologies,relating Citrix to Netflix, DirectTV and iTunes because they deliver services. This will be a theme for this event for sure.

Mobile Workspace Demo by Brad Peterson the Chef Demo Officer and Catherine Courage: (keep a eye on her as she heads up the Citrix leadership ladder)

Using WorxHome and the Store link and the updates the WorxHome App
Showed the integration of GoToMeeting into the calendar to one click to join the meeting or say I’m running late with one button also.
When internal links are clicked in a email it will use WorxWeb to get there.
WorxNotes, replace Evernote and keep it inside your datacenter
No Date on these Worx updates yet. Take Photos within a note and astound recording and easily senadable.
ShareFile looks really ugly and out of place compared to the white background of the Whole Worx Suite. Please fix this.
New ShareFile connectors to third parties like SaleForce. The demo didn’t work out to well. Showed ShareFile moving stuff from DropBox into ShareFile with their personal connectors.
WorxDesktop is used to see your personal files on a personal so outer. Think of ShareFile for your home PC where you can even edit these documents. Remotes the personal applications if you open the edition then you came seethe whole desktop. Has the same Store layout for Apps and Desktops but it shows that the ShareFile UI is behind.
ChomeBook demo showing Video and and radiology images and normal windows apps and really highlight smooth roaming.

XenDesktop Updates
Still number one.
XenApp
Supports 2008 to 2012 (say is supports 5 OSs, but the math seems off to me 2008R2, 2012, 2012R2)
Brad showing a XenApp published desktop using 2012 R2 and thethe smoothed roamed to a iPad and how the graphics are still awesome.
Talking about XenApp a lot more than XenDesktop to fix their misteps on otsrelease earlier this year.
Made some migration tools to get the published resources over and Tech Preview is coming soon, so we will have to see what it does and if it actually works.

XenMobile 9 is coming up.
Updated WorxSuite is coming with this release that were demoed, windows 8.1 support and adding more windows phone support. They are saying there is a Tech Preview coming. XenMobile cloud for SMB clients that don’t want to host those components and want to get up and going very fast.

WorkSpace Suite
This suit will include ShareFile, XenApp, Worx Applications and XenMobile for $450 MSRP. I have been telling the product teams this two years and ow they have finally listened to give a true BYOD SKU.

New Trade Up Promotions that have some huge discounts
VMware View Rescue Program will offer a 50% discount

Cisco Validate Design for the WorkSpace Suite which is awesome because UCS rules.

Mark T, talking about the Employee Culture and Customer Empathy. It wad so nice to have him back. He was near tears a couple times, which to me shows me how much he had missed it and how much he loves this event, this technology and the people here.

A lot of the videos this year were reruns of Summit this year and Innovation award nominees from last year, come on now. First time in 7 years of not having a backpack and we get reruns.

The last announcement by Mark T, has to do with being a shopkeeper and a gatekeeper. Announce Citrix Wokspace Services, cloud center, desktop and apps and have access to service automation with even mobile devices. This control plane will run on Microsoft Azure, I guess they had to show some love because they they have been having a rough OS run (Vista’ish). I hope this isn’t a HD-DVD repeat. Mitch Parker is the new leader of this Workspace Services department.

Workspace Services Demo:
Looks like the App Orchestrator but Blue instead of Green with a updated CloudPlatform/CloudPortal UI. This is looks like it is just CloudPortal that can also tap into other clouds. So a cloud portal that shows Citrix XenApp and XenDesktop related things like Hosted Shared Desktop and Real VDIs. Shows some automation for the desktop image and the App Store being dynamic. Trying to show more about GoToAssit and how it integrates. Good looking GUIs but I want to see it for real and how much it will cost.
Tech Preview is coming around half of the year.

Citrix has by far the most powerful policy system. It can do endpoint analysis to ensure that the device meets a specific list of criteria for access or to have reduced access. What this means in the real world is that is that everyone can Copy\Paste, Print save to local drives when their PC\iPad\MAC\Thin Client is on the internal network but as soon as they go home they cannot do any of those same things, but the real kicker is you can make trusted groups that are allowed to do everything internally and externally. This is just the simplest security scenario for Citrix that most people use the sky really is the limit.

VMware

VMware works on Entitlements (kind of like Citrix) but the problem is that the entitlement gives them access to that virtual desktop anywhere in the world because they either have access or don’t have access there is not a dimmer switch like Citrix. The only way you can secure stuff is to do it with Group Policy using AD only but it will not be able to detect the client IP so the internally to externally it will all look the same. So in some deployments where View was a possibility the security limitations killed it.

Security Winner, Citrix (Everyone needs a dimmer switch instead of a simple light switch, especially if you are under any type of compliance)

Maturity

Citrix

Citrix has been doing application virtualization for over 23 years and Virtual Desktops was just new natural expansion of the same code so they didn’t have to reinvent the wheel they just had to put a new tire on it for VDI. With that new tire they were able to keep all the same security and scalability and the conformity of their holistic solution. XenDesktop 2.0 was released in 5-20-2008 and has sold millions of licenses, granted some of those licenses we just used for XenApp Published Desktops or to get Provisioning Server for XenApp but there are still some huge deployments of over 50k real virtual desktops in a single deployment.

VMware

VMware VDM\View was released on 4-30-2009 and it was pretty much a flop out of the gate for anything outside of the LAN or smaller deployments. It wasn’t until version 4.0 in 2010 PCoIP was added and that helped out dramatically but across the WAN it would still start to fall apart with its bandwidth requirements or its slowness would just make in inoperable. Things have got a lot better but the main thing to remember when it comes to history is that VMware was the king of virtualization and had never delivered a desktop across the LAN or WAN until 2009 when they got into the desktop virtualization game. Their integration to ESX and vCenter their two oldest products has been great the whole time, there have been a couple hiccups along the way but Microsoft, VMware and Citrix had just as many along the way.

Maturity Winner, Citrix (Older isn’t always better but they have been on the pulse of the industry to keep up with the needs)

Holistic Solution

Citrix

Citrix since they bought NetScaler in 2005 they have a load balanced and HA solution from the firewall back since then. The integration with their networking product NetScaler has only got better in the past 7 years where if you are deploying any environment with more than 200 users or you have to meet SLAs Citrix has made it easy to buy one solution. Since they own a Load Balancer(NetScaler), WAN Optimization (Branch Repeater), Hypervisor and XenApp + XenDesktop along with ShareFile, Podio, GoToMeeting, XenClient and all their Cloud connectivity options you are getting a full suite to do whatever you want.

VMware

VMware has only one strong ally in the View battle is their hypervisor ESX which has been dominant since its release in 2001. Their hypervisor is definitely awesome and the things that it can do especially when there are more than one site. What we have found over the years especially with XenDesktop and XenApp deployments the need for those higher end features are not needed because XenServer is bundled with XenDesktop licenses which keeps a nice support model when there are issues. VMware has an agreement with Terradici to use the PCoIP protocol, they don’t own any load balancer so with their solution you have to purchase a load balancer to ensure the Connection servers availability. Compared to Citrix the amount of products that support their technology goal are lacking you do get the best hypervisor but that’s it everything else has to come from somewhere else.

Citrix really has done the best with this since its inception of those devices and XenDesktop and XenApp. Citrix was the one who started to coin the term BYOD because with their technology it was finally possible and could become a corporate reality due to its security and product maturity. LPS had great success with XenDesktop and XenApp when the iPad was released because Citrix had a client the day it came out and then as new devices are created Citrix has focused development on all the big sellers which gives your user base a choice of around a billion devices. When it comes to Thin Clients almost all Thin Clients exist because of Citrix and regular RDP so there are thousands of models that are compatible from all the major vendors. The WYSE Xenith family is my favorite thin client for XenDesktops or Published Desktops from XenApp out there due to its simplicity and its performance. WYSE ThinOS would be the best model for XenApp and published applications.

VMware

They have been a little slow on the rollout of clients. When it was first released in 2010 VMware relied on a WYSE iPad application until they released their own. The same scenario play out with MACs where View 4.6 was when the first MAC client came out in 2010. A dedicated thin client took a while to have ones that were Zero clients instead of just Windows 7 or XP thin clients being your only option. The WYSE P Family is my favorite VMware zero thin client due to its simplicity and its performance. Since 2009 VMware has introduced a client for Mac, iOS, Android and Linux to be competitive with Citri

Device Support Winner, Citrix (More Devices=More Better)

Image update Method

Citrix

Citrix since 2008 has been using Citrix Provisioning Server (formerly Ardence) to maintain the XenDesktop images. Provisioning Server streams the operating system across the network which is very cheap to scale. It operates under the simple deployment model is that a target device boots up it talks to the PVS server and with is MAC address it determine which operating system they will get (Windows 7 or Windows 8) which will point to one hard drive or another call the vDisk which is just a .VHD file. This means updating from Windows 7 to Window 8 is as simple as changing a setting on the PVS server and rebooting the desktops. We have updated thousands of desktops or hundreds of servers in just a couple minutes. This is the biggest strength in my eyes because that is what matters, how longer does it take to patch and update a desktop and get it out to the users in a non-disruptive way that is fast and will not kill the storage or servers. A 500 user deployment would cost you just cost around 5GB per desktop which would be 2.5 TBs.

VMware
When View first came out its huge weakness was the amount of storage space that was needed. For 500 desktops with 50GB hard drive would mean you would need 25 TBs just to store the VM, which is why it didn’t get anywhere for a while. Then in 2010 VMware introduced Linked Clones which allowed them to use one parent VMs with their snapshotting technology to make all the desktops from that parent VMs. With a 500 desktop deployment with 50GB image would just cost you around 8GB per desktop (in some cases less) would come up to just 4TBs which is more a whole lot better. Then the biggest thing is its Achilles heel is the how the Re-Composition works when you have to do a desktop update it is a disruptive update and it can take as little as 15 minutes to as long as a couple hours depending on the number of desktops. During the Re-Composition or update the storage is getting pounded and the VMs are being deleted and those couple of Gigs per desktop are copied to hundreds of desktops. There are ways to make a VMware View update non-disruptive but in most cases it means that you have to have a N*2 deployment so you can get all the desktops ready and then just let the users cut themselves to the new image the following day. We have had some clients that have found out the hard way that they cannot do a update to the desktops during the middle of the day due to the stress that is put on the storage and then the servers as each desktop powers on and gets back on the domain. Since most of the update horsepower is happening on the storage instead of Citrix which is happening over the Gigabit or 10 Gigabit network which will become a lot cheaper.

Image Update Winner, Citrix (Non-Disruptive and fast updates)

User Experience

User Experience (LAN)

Citrix

Citrix has been the king in this space for around 10+ years when multimedia over Citrix was really starting to be needed. They came up with Flash Redirection which was the biggest step because it allowed the YouTube age to get their fix without killing the server or having a horrible user experience. Citrix has continued development on this and it works in a very adaptive way based on the horsepower the endpoint has and the connectivity to switch back and forth. On the LAN there really isn’t a fight between VMware in most cases depending on what is going on.

VMware

When VMware View was using RDP things could get a little clunky on the LAN but now with PCoIP it will work pretty much flawlessly where it will look really really close to Citrix sitting right beside it with the same endpoint horsepower. PCoIP has done a great job with Flash Video and Windows Media redirection\compression to rival Citrix on the LAN. It will almost always in any side-by-side test use more bandwidth but on the LAN it may not matter.

User Experience (WAN)

Citrix

Citrix was created for the WAN when there was just dial up and RAS servers so it has had to be a very thin protocol that isn’t very chatty to ensure good user experience in a hub and spoke deployment. Citrix without its WAN acceleration product “Branch Repeater” it will do good in high latency deployments up to around 100-300ms depending on the workload, and it you have poor connections to your client offices you can just implement their product “Branch Repeater” and get even more out of the same Pipe while reducing the amount of bandwidth needed. Depending on what version of XenDesktop or XenApp you purchase this WAN optimization is included you just have to purchase the physical or virtual appliance.

VMware

With the release of View 4.6 to 5.0 things have got a whole lot better on this front where it can operate okay on poor connections but in almost every head to head test we have done it always uses more bandwidth and there are not a lot of options to fix that since they do not have any WAN optimizations products. At around 100MS latency doing the same thing on View and XenDesktop it will respond pretty similarly but if the connection gets worse than that the protocol will start choking itself.

Citrix used to have a bad name with their older XenApp versions MetaFrame and Presentation server for printing problems but since 2001 they have been working hard to fix it. Now their universal print driver will work with around 70-90% of printers out there without having to install those print drivers on each desktop or application server. They have even made a Universal Print Server which can take it to the next step in simplicity. When it comes to things other than printers Citrix’s USB, TWAIN and COM redirection has been rivaled by none. There are some limitations just like with anything but it has been a long time at LPS that we haven’t been able to get something to work using those redirection methods. The main thing they bring with their security is USB security to only allow or disallow certain types of devices globally or make exceptions for certain employees.

VMware

VMware has had a rough road with this but with their addition ThinPrint they helped to close the gap on printing where they are neck and neck with Citrix when it comes to printing. USB support and other peripherals does work there are some limitations but the big thing for most clients is that USB pass-through is either on or off there isn’t a dimmer switch for certain users or exclusions to certain devices.

Printing and Peripheral Drive Support Winner, Citrix (Slight lead because of security)

Doing it Differently

Citrix

Citrix has the options with it suite of technologies to use it XenApp technology to publish a desktop that looks just like Windows 7 and feel like it to hundreds of users per physical server unlike a traditional VDI deployment from Citrix or VMware. In a typical VDI deployment you will only be able to fit 100-175 desktops on a single physical server. The density differences have lead us down the road in the Citrix practice to use XenApp Published Desktops and Applications first before using VDI and only doing true virtual desktops for a minority of users unless there is a compelling reason to do VDI only. Then with Citrixs new RemotePC technology takes VDI to a whole new level by using the PC at your desk and layering Citrix security and session brokering to allow you to access that PC from anywhere in the world with just a couple virtual servers and database. This will take off for people who want the VDI experience to their existing PCs without buying all the physical servers or storage. In almost all cases real VDI vs. XenApp will cost and take around 3 times the resource for the same number of users.

VMware

Citrix just does desktops right now even with version 5.1. They have introduced Horizon late 2011 and it hasn’t really taken off because of its scalability and security limitations just like VMware View. Their ThinApp technology is powerful but it doesn’t have the security and same delivery infrastructure like Citrix does. Horizon is a direct competitor to XenApp but in our eyes it will have around 10 years to catch up. From the first release there are some nice features that gave it a good head start against Citrix but it has a long way to go.

Doing it Differently Winner, Citrix (Flexibility gone right)

Management Consoles

Citrix

Citrix was the worst at this point since XenDesktop 2.0 but in 4 years it has got a lot better. They have cut them in half but they still have more management consoles when you add in all their other supporting technologies but when you compare VDI Only management consoles it is a little more fair to Citrix because they have a whole lot more products, this isn’t a excuse but it is just a simple fact.

XenDesktop Management Console List:

Desktop Studio (MMC, Manage the Deployment)

Desktop Director (Flash Based Web Page, Help Desktop Management)

Provisioning Server Console (MMC, Manage the Images and vDisks)

Web Interface\StoreFront Services (MMC, Mange the Web Servers)

vCenter, XenCenter or SCVMM (EXE, Manage your VMs)

XenApp Management Console List:

AppCenter (MMC, Manage the Deployment)

Desktop Director (Flash Based Web Page, Help Desktop Management)

Provisioning Server Console (MMC, Manage the Images and vDisks)

Web Interface\StoreFront Services (MMC, Mange the Web Servers)

vCenter, XenCenter or SCVMM (EXE, Manage your VMs)

VMware

VMware has been the winner here for the least number of consoles since its creation.

VMware View Management Console List:

View Connection Manager (Flash Based Web Page, Manage the Deployment)

vCenter (EXE, Manage your VMs)

Management Consoles Winner, VMware (Less is better)

Hypervisor Choice

Citrix

Pick from the three main leaders VMware, Citrix and Microsoft. This has helped make the decision for some of our clients due to the cost of ESX alone and not the really the features that XenServer has over VMware.

VMware

You can only use VMware ESX to host your desktops. The good thing is that they changed their pricing model to reflect when you run desktops vs running servers so it is cheaper that it was just a couple years ago but there is a cost you have to be aware of.

Hypervisor Choice Winner, Citrix (More Choices=More Better)

Conclusion

From what we have seen over the past 4 years with the Virtual Desktop craze Citrix is the leader in almost category and with its maturity and product depth it makes it a simple choice. There are some specific deployment types that VMware View makes sense but due to its two main weaknesses security and image rollout keep it away from most clients deploying it. Using XenApp instead of real VDI from either partner is in almost in all cases better and cheaper in every way and with the XenDesktop Enterprise or higher license including it just takes it to the top of the options list and then we will VDI what XenApp cannot do.

#CitrixSynergy #SYN301
Branch Repeater Party with XenDesktop a d XenApp.
Main three things that Branch Repeater can help.
1. TCP Flow Control, open up the TCP windows and unleash the beast.
2. De-Duplication of the same things coming to a branch office like a corporate email.
3. traffic Shaping, VoIP and Video that are sensitive to time delays.

#CitrixSynergy #SYN308 SQL and NetScaler DataStream
First Speaker went over SQL 2012 and the changes in the availability groups. SQL Mirroring will be dying in a couple more versions and replaced with Availability groups. Go to connect.microsoft.com to vote for new features. The NetScaler guys has a great overview slide of all the features a NetScaler can do, so make sure and get it when it comes out next week. The NetScaler guy Craig Currmins bashing SQL 2012 for its faults and how using a NetScaler is the best thing ever for TCP controls and visibility. I will deploy DataStream next week and I will let you know my thoughts.

#CitrixSynergy #SynergyKeyNote #CitrixSynergyKeyNote #PODIO #ProjectAvalon
GoToAssit is now on Android!
WYSE Xenith 2, true 720P,40% faster.
AppDNA 6.1 is coming out very soon.
Citrix acquired “VirtualComputer” for XenClient Enterprise Edition 175per user this quarter.
GoToMeeting on IPad with some serious enhancements.
Podio now has ShareFile integration and GoToMeeting integration.
SharwFile now with Storage Zones and a New iPad Apps is coming soon.
Citrix Receiver withFollowMe Data will come out in July.
Citrix Receiver with IOS Application integration so they have a intranet application that is native that is basically using your gateway as a VPN, also has a secure mail client.
Cloud Gateway 2 is the new glue that Citrix is going to use with Receiver to give everyone everything.
HDX 3D Pro Deep Compression Codec, which will transcode things to reduce bandwidth on the fly especially for mobile devices.
Great windows 8 support odor PCs and Tablets.
HPs new POE Zero Thin Client. It looks like it would be awesome for schools with wireless keyboards and mice.
Citrix has given up their HDX chip technology to everyone now, so now other this clients can have WYSE Xenith capabilities.
Citrix CloudBridge 2 will be out in June.
Citrix CloudStack is teaming up with Apache = Apache CloudStack.
NetScaler is the number one Internet Delivery System.
NetScaler new TriScale technology gives the ability to cluster up to 32 NetScaler in one deployment.

The last Gotcha Announcement: Project Avalon delivering applications as a true a true cloud service. Which is like bolting a orchestration engine and underneath XenDesktop and XenApp with CloudStack underneath and toeing it together. Customer Beta in the second quarter. It will be interesting to see if Citrix can change a culture to move to the cloud.

#CitrixSynergy #SYN119
Was a good overview of Personal vDisk aka PvD. PvD factory reset can allow admins to reset the users installed application without affecting their profile data. Default allocation within the vDisk is 50/50 for Profile and Applications(it can be changed). This is a PowerPoint you will want when it comes out for sure, there are some great slides on how it operates and how to find logs. Major Gotcha I found was that the PVD glues to the VM and then glues the user to that VM, this shouldn’t be used in a pooled desktops (right now). No more image updates during the middle of the day with this technology because it will tell the DDC to not broker any users while the PVD workflow is going.

#CitrixSynergy #SYN801
RES Software and XenDesktop making things more better and more easier.
RES Base Desktop Analyzer is free and it just takes a simple login script to collect that will give you some great reports. https://www.resbaselinedesktopanalyzer.com/
RES Automation Manager is what Citrix Workflow Studio wished it could be.
Video they had of them automating a complete XenDesktop and XenApp POC in minutes instead of hours and or days.
http://www.citrix.com/tv/videos/5263